Letter to the Editor: Look to Germany for an Example of Universal Health Care That Works

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With the 2020 election cycle winding up, there is again more discussion about our health care system and possible ways to improve it. In this newspaper, I have read articles and comments online that primarily attack single payer health care and/or “Medicare for all.” 

I am not an expert in the field, as I suspect nor are most of the people writing these letters. This is an incredibly complicated issue and will not be resolved with “sound bite” ideas. I would just like to suggest that people spend a little time investigating the health care systems in other developed countries, and not just the National Health Service in Great Britain.

My husband and I were lucky enough to live in Germany for almost four years, and we got to see its health care system in action, not only for care we needed, but also for care received by our many German friends. 

I also worked as a registered nurse in a German hospital. Although it will take too much space to describe its health system in detail, here are the basics. The coverage is universal, but it is not a government-run system. There are over 100 health insurance companies, but they are nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations that operate on their own. 

The government does require certain standards, but there is a nongovernmental organization that determines covered benefits, etc. Workers contribute a relatively small amount, as do their employers, but workers may change jobs without losing their insurance or having to sign up for new coverage. 

Germans get to choose their own health care providers and have to make very small copayments when they receive care. Additionally, if a person wants to, they can opt out of the universal care system and purchase private health insurance. 



A really good article discussing the German health care system in an easy-to-read format is titled, “Why Germans Love Their Health Insurance,” written by Spencer Kimball on Handelsblatt.com. 

I am certainly not saying their system is perfect — none is. But I think our country has a lot to learn from what other industrialized countries are doing. Perhaps we can combine elements from some of these other countries’ health systems to improve our own.

 

Susan Miller

Onalaska